Ryoo Seung-Woo, Min Jin-Young, Son Seok-Yoon, Choi Baek-Yong, Choi Juho, Min Kyoung-Bok
Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
Veterans Medical Research Institute, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Ann Occup Environ Med. 2024 Jun 14;36:e14. doi: 10.35371/aoem.2024.36.e14. eCollection 2024.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic drastically modified the occupational system wherein telecommuting has risen as the major form of work. Few studies have incorporated Karasek's job demand-control (JDC) model into explaining the health effects of telecommuting. This study aimed to investigate the health risk in South Korean telecommuters during the pandemic, and its distribution according to the job stress-related factors.
A nationwide population-based cross-sectional study of South Korean laborers was conducted, utilizing the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey (2020-2021). Following the previously described concept of telecommuting, 14,478 white-collar employees were eligible study participants. Telecommuting, job demand, job control, and various health indicators were measured by the responses to the survey. Participants were stratified into 4 job profiles classified by the JDC model. We conducted multiple logistic regression analyses between telecommuting and health-related outcomes to estimate the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI).
One hundred forty-six low-strain, 223 active, 69 passive, and 148 high-strain workers were screened as telecommuters. Compared to office workers, telecommuters had a higher proportion in high job control groups. Subgroup analysis demonstrated different relationships between telecommuting and health, where only active telecommuters showed a higher prevalence of depression (OR: 1.980, 95% CI: 1.126-3.481), and high-strain telecommuters were affected in most outcomes including insomnia (OR: 2.555, 95% CI: 1.473-4.433), musculoskeletal pain (OR: 2.786, 95% CI: 1.719-4.517), headache/eye strain (OR: 3.074, 95% CI: 1.992-4.745) and presenteeism (OR: 1.932, 95% CI: 1.193-3.131).
This study revealed significantly increased odds of multiple health outcomes among South Korean telecommuters during the COVID-19 pandemic era. High-strain job holders were prominently susceptible to the negative health impacts of telecommuting. Occupational health management towards telecommuters should approach mitigating high job demand and low job control.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行极大地改变了职业体系，远程办公已成为主要的工作形式。很少有研究将 Karasek 的工作需求-控制（JDC）模型纳入解释远程办公对健康的影响。本研究旨在调查韩国远程办公者在大流行期间的健康风险，以及其根据与工作压力相关因素的分布情况。
利用第六次韩国工作条件调查（2020 - 2021年）对韩国劳动者进行了一项基于全国人口的横断面研究。按照先前描述的远程办公概念，14478名白领员工为符合条件的研究参与者。通过对调查的回答来测量远程办公、工作需求、工作控制和各种健康指标。参与者被分为根据JDC模型分类的4种工作类型。我们对远程办公与健康相关结果进行了多项逻辑回归分析，以估计比值比（OR）及95%置信区间（CI）。
筛选出146名低压力、223名积极、69名消极和148名高压力的远程办公者。与办公室工作人员相比，远程办公者在高工作控制组中的比例更高。亚组分析表明远程办公与健康之间存在不同关系，其中只有积极的远程办公者抑郁患病率较高（OR：1.980，95%CI：1.126 - 3.481），高压力的远程办公者在大多数结果中受到影响，包括失眠（OR：2.555，95%CI：1.473 - 4.433）、肌肉骨骼疼痛（OR：2.786，95%CI：1.719 - 4.517）、头痛/眼疲劳（OR：3.074，95%CI：1.992 - 4.745）和出勤主义（OR：1.932，95%CI：1.193 - 3.131）。
本研究揭示了在COVID-19大流行时代，韩国远程办公者多种健康结果的几率显著增加。高压力工作者尤其容易受到远程办公对健康的负面影响。针对远程办公者的职业健康管理应致力于减轻高工作需求和低工作控制的状况。
